Sage
by Star Kindler1
Summary: Rei and the pilots get some new houseguests: the Senshi and gasp Relena! Will the world ever be the same? And who IS that mysterious visitor? Find out in...Chapter 7!
1. Who knows, indeed?

All right everyone! This is my first shot at a long term fic! I'm psyched! Sooo…let's get ready to RUMBLE!

As said before, since Rei is my favorite character, and crossovers are just so fun...This is Gundam Wing crossover, with Rei as the main character. However, that doesn't mean that the other Senshi won't play a very important part…This also sheds some light on those Betrayal stories (which I despise, don't worry about it).

Disclaimer: NO I DON'T OWN THEM!!!

The date is After Colony 197. A year after the Mariemea (sp?) incident, peace reigns supreme and the Gundam pilots are merely Preventers, though they kept their famed MS. All five pilots are eighteen, except for Trowa, who is nineteen for reasons of Sailor Star Kindler (that's me, hee hee).

The year is a year after the defeat of Chaos. The inner Senshi are all eighteen, Haruka and Michiru are twenty, Hotaru is fifteen, and Setsuna is ageless though she seems about twenty or twenty-one. And Chibiusa is not in this story because she bugs the crap out of me and I have no clue how to write her. 

Anyway.

Our story begins…

            Somewhere, in the myriad strands of time, something broke loose…and _twisted. Setsuna glanced backward and gasped. Where there had been one thread, there were now three, and one was horribly mutilated. With growing horror, Setsuna recalled an ancient taboo given to her by the Queen when she was first allowed to guard the threads._

_"You must make sure that these are not tampered with by anyone or anything, for they represent the lives of people. If they become entangled_, _who knows what would happen?"  _

            Who knows?

            Elsewhere in the threads of time, malicious laughter could be heard.

            "Finally, I am free!" cackled a strange voice. The source of the voice appeared: a beautiful young lady with long, shining black hair. An exact duplicate of Hino Rei…but for one thing. In the place of Rei's violet orbs, the girl had red eyes.

            "Hino Rei, guardian of the brightest star in the solar system and Goddess of War, you are my first target," she said, and sped off.

            All this trouble, however, was completely unknown to the three girls sipping hot coffee in a café. Ami, Makoto and Usagi had just stepped in out of the terrible March snow, flakes billowing off their shoulders and onto the floor.

            "I wonder where Rei-chan is?" asked Ami anxiously, "She said she'd be here five minutes ago."

            "Ah, calm down, Ami. It's hard to walk through that snow. It'd slow anyone down," said Makoto. A figure slowly making her way through the knee-high snow caught her eye.

            "In fact, there she is now!" Rei shoved through the last bit of snow and quickly pushed open the door, obviously thankful for the warm air inside the café.

            "Ossu, Rei-chan!" said Usagi, smiling broadly, "why'd you want to meet us here?"

            "I…what?" Rei shook her head, betraying blood-red eyes.

            "Rei?" asked Ami shrewdly. "Is there something wrong with your eyes?"

            "First question first," snapped Rei. "I wanted to meet with you because I'm tired of being under that bitch, Usagi's rule all the time. She's such an airhead that I can't stand protecting her any more. I should be the leader of the Senshi! Who's with me?" She opened her fist, revealing a small fireball sitting in the palm of her hand. Drawing back her arm, she hurled it at Usagi, slamming her princess against the wall. Usagi's eyes filled with tears and both Ami and Makoto leapt to their feet, ready to protect Usagi from any further attacks. But Rei turned and walked back out the door.

            "Oh, yeah," she said as parting pleasure, "I'm screwing Mamoru, too." Usagi exploded.

            "That dirty, low-down, boyfriend stealing…" she broke into fresh tears.

            "She must have henshined before she came in and hid it under that coat of hers," mused Ami, "But I thought Rei accepted Usagi as the leader of the Senshi…"

            "You heard her!" shouted Makoto. "That traitor! I can't believe it! All this time, we thought she was on our side and…here she comes again." Rei seemed to be walking back inside. Shaking off snow from her head, she smiled brightly and her eyes took in the scene of wreckage. She walked up to Makoto.

            "What happened, Mako—" was all she could say before a powerful blow caught her in the stomach, knocking her backwards. Makoto had punched her!

            "Mako-chan? What's wrong?" asked Rei angrily.

            "Why did you come here?!" asked Makoto through gritted teeth.

            "I only wanted to talk to you and Usagi!" said Rei. Rei's remark had a huge effect on Makoto. Her friend turned as cold as ice.

            "You wanted to speak to Usagi? You hurt her, and then you come back a minute later to talk to her. Well, I'm sorry. After what you did to her, I'm surprised you're still showing your face around here, you bitch!" With the last word, Makoto looked into Rei's amethyst eyes with cold fury radiating off every line of her body. _What did I say? thought Rei frantically. _I'm sure I didn't say anything! Unless you count 'odango atama' yesterday…Is she really that hurt over a friendly joke?__

            "You've caused Usagi enough pain. I don't want you anywhere near her. You aren't worthy of Usagi's friendship or trust." spat Makoto.

At this point Ami came up, too. "Rei-san," she said coldly, "please leave and don't come back." Rei looked at them both. 

"Look, guys, gomen nasai whatever I did, demo—" She was cut off by a powerful blast from where Usagi still lay, sobbing. Rei felt a jerk on her spine and she passed out.

Hiya everyone! That was a hard one to write, because I felt so sorry for Rei…But shape-shifting villains are sooo cool! Do you see that little button on the side? Please press it and submit something positive! Also, I need a little help on pairings. I know it's going to stay Usagi/Mamoru and Haruka/Michiru and I know who Rei's going to be paired with (but it's a secret! Don't tell!)…but I need a little bit of help with Minako, Ami and Makoto.


	2. Many meetings and Sage shows himself

Disclaimer: Do you think that I would be posting my pathetic little stories on a web site instead of publishing them if I owned the rights to the characters?

Well, thanks everyone.

This chappie was rather tedious to write; just filling in the spaces…boooring....but one little part was really easy…bet you guess which!

When she woke up, Rei was in a soft, warm bed. She sat up instantly, and the night's events came back to her in a wave of grief. Rei tried to turn her mind to different matters, like where she was and…whose clothes were these?

She glanced around the room. The room was huge and elaborately decorated, from the bed to the antique oak wardrobe. Rei walked over to it, but finding it empty, decided she would have to make do with the outfit she had on: a bright pink, frilly dress. It didn't fit well and was quite uncomfortable, but it seemed that was the only thing she had to wear. Rei's head throbbed, and she realized that she had a nasty gash on her forehead. She got back into the bed, content to look around the room from there.

A boy with blond hair and green eyes peeked in the door, brightening up considerably when he saw she was awake.

"You've woken up! Konnichi wa, my name is Quatre Winner." Rei smiled. It was almost impossible not to instantly like this boy. His warm smile and friendly demeanor made him practically irresistible. 

"I'm Rei Hino. Pleased to meet you. Sumimasen, but I have absolutely no idea how I got to this place. I was just returning home," her beautiful eyes darkened at the memory of the fight with her friends, "and then I was here." Quatre looked puzzled. He opened his mouth to speak, but at the same moment, a boy with long brown hair in a braid and cobalt blue eyes dashed in the door.

"Oh, she's up at last! Ossu, my name is Duo Maxwell, also known as Shingami. Now, what would someone as incredibly hot as you be doing here?" Rei's lips twitched, but she managed to keep a straight face. This guy really came on strong, didn't he? But he was also very cute…

"Well, actually, that's what I would like to know," Rei said calmly, "because I ended up here, wherever 'here' is," At this point, two other young men peered in the door.

"Come in," called Quatre, "she's awake!" The two of them walked in the door, first a guy with brown hair in a very odd hairstyle covering half of his face and then a guy with black hair in a small ponytail. 

"This is Trowa…" Quatre said, pointing to the guy with the hair over his face, "…and this is Wufei." Wufei looked at Rei with a superior air about him.

"So, when can we get rid of this weak onna?" That comment made Rei livid.

"For your information, I am not weak! I could _so take you down in one-on-one combat! Come on!" Rei jumped out of the bed. She instantly felt incredibly dizzy, and the blood drained from her face. Rei collapsed back into bed. Quatre instantly rushed to her side._

"Rei-san! Are you okay?" Rei smiled weakly.

"I'm fine. It's okay; I just want to know how I got here."

"Well, actually, I'd better have Heero tell the story. He's the one who found you." Quatre peered out the door.

"Ah, there he is. Heero, exactly how did you find Rei-san?" asked Quatre. A boy with messy dark hair and Prussian blue eyes walked in the door, a cold, emotionless expression on his face. Rei felt an instant attraction to this guy, even though she didn't know him. Her heart beat faster and her stomach felt fluttery.

"She…fell out of the sky and into the lake." Heero said, seemingly unaware of how odd he sounded. Duo snickered. Rei's amethyst eyes widened.

"Okay, I'll assume I heard that wrong," Rei said. "But what about getting me home from wherever this is?" Quatre smiled again.

"Where do you live? I'll drive you there, if you'll give me the directions."

"And your phone number." Duo interjected.

"Okay, I live on Sendai Hill, at the Hikawa Jinja Shrine," Rei said. Quatre looked puzzled.

"I don't know of a Sendai Hill," Quatre said, looking concerned.

"Isn't this Crossroads?" asked Rei. Quatre still seemed mystified.

"Crossroads where?"

"Crossroads, Japan," said Rei, wondering why he needed to ask. Surely he knew about Crossroads!

"Japan?" Quatre exclaimed.

"Yes, Japan!" _Where else would he think I lived?_ mused Rei.

"Um…we're a little far away from Japan," Duo said, grinning widely.

"Exactly how far away?" Rei asked, worried.

"About 10,000 miles, give or take," Duo said, "but you're welcome to stay with me—I mean, us." Rei smiled sadly.

"That would be nice," she said, "but I'd like to get back home as soon as possible." Quatre quickly crushed any notion of her returning home soon.

"Rei-san, you are not to leave your bed until you're feeling better. You could barely stand earlier; there is no way that you are going to go on a plane now." Quatre said kindly but firmly.

"But I need to get back to my frien—family!" protested Rei. Quatre's eyes grew solemn, and the room fell quiet. Trowa broke the silence.

"Gomen nasai, but your family would understand that you are too weak to travel to them. You must understand that if you go on a trip now, the chances of a relapse are much higher. I am sure that the people back home would prefer you to be here and okay than with them and ill." Duo's eyes practically popped out of his head.

"That was the longest statement I have ever heard Trowa say. You are some kind of miracle worker!" Smiling at this reference, Rei once more tried to get up. She managed a few wobbly steps and then sank into a chair, fatigued with the effort.

"Okay, you win. I'll stay here until I can win a fight with Wufei." she said, pointing an alabaster hand at the dark-haired boy. Wufei scowled.

"Then you'll be here until the day I die." he stated calmly. Rei's violet eyes flashed.

"That'll be pretty soon if you keep that up!" she shouted at him.

"There is no way you could touch me, never mind killing me." he smirked.

"Misogynist!" yelled Rei.

"Weak onna!" yelled back Wufei.

"I would so win a fight between us!"

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"I don't think so!"

"You'll be down and out in seconds!"

"Oh, I'm so scared!"

"You should be!" Rei closed her eyes and felt the familiar feeling of fire rush through her veins. Holding up her henshin pen, she shouted out the phrase: 

"Mars Crystal Power, Make-up!"

"Nande kuso?" muttered Wufei, until a blast of red-gold light sparkled around the room. Rei's clothes disappeared as her body was engulfed in flames. Duo's eyes grew huge, and Heero suddenly became fascinated with the wall. Wufei, however, was bracing for the oncoming attack. The flames around Rei's body melted into a short-skirted schoolgirl uniform, with a pair of red high heels to match. Wufei relaxed. There was no way that Rei would be able to move in those things, much less fight. Rei stared at his laid-back posture, eyes narrowing as she realized that her opponent had already foreseen the inevitable outcome of their match.

Rei ran forward and executed a perfect jump-kick to the groin, sending Wufei hurtling backwards. There was a sympathetic murmur from the other male occupants of the room. Those pointed heels must really hurt! Wufei was beginning to see the advantages of that type of shoe. Getting back on track, Wufei vowed not to let this onna defeat him. It should be an easy battle to win.

Heero watched as Rei and Wufei sparred, Rei's long, silky black hair whipping around as she blocked and threw numerous blows. Rei seemed like she was made for combat. She moved like a cat, graceful and poised. 

Somehow, Heero could be content just watching her for hours, as he did before she woke up from her coma. He would sit in the room, satisfied to do nothing but stare at her. Who was she? _What was she? An OZ agent? A fallen angel? A princess? Some intricate combination of the three? He had so many questions about her, and what she was doing here. It was hard to believe she was an undercover spy for OZ, though. How could anything evil last in a body as beautiful as hers?_

Heero internally slapped himself. What the hell was he doing, thinking like this? He was supposed to be the emotionless, perfect soldier. And yet, after just days of being in Rei's presence, and mere minutes of knowing her very name, his ice cold exterior was melting like she was a blazing fire. 

In fact, she reminded him of a flame. Didn't her last name mean 'fire'? She practically acted like the incarnation of the element, blazing with temper and stubbornly resolute. Passionate, fiery, with a sort of untouchable beauty—he was doing it again. Heero needed to get away from this girl before he became some sort of emotional sap. He quickly retreated to a far off corner of the room. This girl, this Rei, did strange things to him. 

~~~**~~~

Rei was in the middle of her sparring match when she felt her fatigue return. Temporarily gone from her power-boosting transformation, her exhaustion was back with a passion. Rei managed to block one more blow and then fell back onto the bed, weak and tired. She dehenshined. Wufei sneered. This onna obviously didn't have what it took to fight him. Quatre, however, seemed worried. 

"Rei-san, when was the last time you ate?" Rei's brow creased.

"Well, what's the date?" she asked.

"It's November 22," said Quatre. Rei's eyes widened.

"Well, either I've gone back in time, or I haven't eaten in seven months," she replied, shocked. "What year?"

"After Colony 197," said Trowa.

"Nande?" asked Rei, beginning to panic. "What sort of date is After Colony? What colony? What is going on here? The last time I checked it was Anno Domini!"

"Anno Domini? A.D.? That's a date from our history books! You must be joking," said Trowa.

"I'm dead serious. That is really when I'm from!" protested Rei. "Listen, I'm not exactly a normal girl," she tried to explain.

"Well, duh! You're an incredibly beautiful girl," said Duo, entirely missing the point.

"No! That whole fire transformation thing I just did! Normal girls don't do that…do they?" Rei asked, troubled by the possibility that in this time everyone had Sailor Senshi powers.

"Oh, right. Yeah, that would be weird…if you were a human. Now, if you were one of those special agents for OZ, well, that would be pretty normal," said Duo.

"OZ?" questioned Rei. Duo rolled his eyes.

"Okay, enough with this stupid game. We know what you are, you can give up with the 'oh I don't know anything I'm from another time' act," he sighed, "but, I'll explain everything anyway. OZ is a military organization which you probably know all about. They have been attacking the space colonies recently with their new agents, genetically mutated humans who have what you might call 'magic'. They can do things a lot like that little fire trick you just did. See? It all works out," Duo stated calmly.

"But I'm really not from this time!" Rei insisted. "See if you can find me in any database of my year of birth. I have a record back then and everything!"

"I'm sure there was a girl named Rei Hino back then, but I doubt you're her," said Heero.

"No, really, here's some info about me! My otou-san is Diet Member Hino of the Democratic Independence Party, my okaa-san—"

"Yes, yes, I'm sure you know all about them. But, you see, this information is all too easy to memorize. I'm afraid you can't prove a thing," interrupted Heero. 

Quatre looked worried. Everyone was being rather hard on Rei, obviously because her story was completely unbelievable. But Quatre couldn't sense any negative energy coming from Rei. It seemed like she was telling the truth.

"Um…guys? I think Rei-san isn't lying," said Quatre. The other pilots stopped and stared. There was a long pause.

"If you're not an OZ agent, tell us who you are and why you have these powers. Right now," ordered Heero.

"Okay. You might want to bring in some more chairs, because this is going to take some time. I am from the past, or maybe not even from this dimension. I am a member of the Sailor Senshi, a group that fights evil in the name of love and justice, etc. Each Senshi has a planet from which they draw their powers. Mine is Mars, so I use the power of fire, which is governed by Mars. 

"There are five Inner Senshi: Sailor Mercury, the Senshi of Wisdom, uses water, Sailor Venus, the Senshi of Beauty, has metal attacks, Sailor Moon, our princess, fights with things that really don't make much sense to me, like kaleidoscopes and Holy Grails and other strange things. Then there's me: the Senshi of War, wielding fire.

"Sailor Jupiter, the Senshi of Protection utilizes both electrical and wood attacks. Sailor Saturn, the Senshi of Silence, has power over Death and Rebirth, whereas Sailor Pluto, the Senshi of Death, manipulates Time. Sailor Neptune, the Deep Sea Senshi, also controls water, leading some to believe that Mercury uses ice. Sailor Uranus, the Senshi of the Heavens, controls air.

"We fought numerous enemies who wanted to take over the world and other melodramatic things. Our most recent enemy, Chaos, has been in defeat for over a year. The world was peaceful, until…" Rei trailed off, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Until what, Rei-san?" Quatre asked gently. But Rei's eyes were no longer staring ahead. They had glazed over and seemed to be looking at something none of the others could see. Rei let out a piercing scream and began to shake convulsively. A harsh, guttural voice issued from her lips:

"_ALL THOSE WHO HEAR ME HEED THESE WORDS: I MARK THIS GIRL FOR DEATH. SAGE IS HER MASTER AND TO SAGE SHE WILL RETURN."_

Hee. Hee. Hee. Evil, aren't I? Leaving you hanging like this? Hopefully you care enough to review…please?


	3. Explanations and lotsa other stuff

            Disclaimer: Sorry, don't own. Wish I did though…

Thank you, everyone! Um…to those who offered advice on pairings, I still say that I'm sticking with who I want and that's final. But yes, it is a triangle.

Like Cats: Thank you for your criticism but the plot is revealed further in each chapter, (and we learn in chapter 3 that Sage only looked just like Rei because HE is a shapeshifter). Thank you for your compliments on my other story! Yay! That really was a good point you made about this being after Chaos, and so I went right out and bought Sailor Moon Stars #1…and you were right, Rei's character changes a bit (beforehand, I was writing from info in book #8). 

But about the picking a fight with Wufei thing, (since you did say that you were a fan of Umi from MKR—me too!) you will see why she did that (again, in later chapters. I do that quite often…^_^;).

Icyfire, Taila-Moon, thescientist, angelicmayuka, and all those who want more, here it is!

Okay, I realize it wasn't very clear what happened in the first chapter except that Rei started spouting Betrayal-esque stuff and then came into the GW world…sorry…I just decided to get a head start on the writing stuff so it's all going way too fast. ANYWAY, here we go. I also gave darling Setsu-chan extra powers.

Somewhere in the threads of time, a solemn-looking woman with the bearing and pride of royalty sat on a throne. Her long golden hair was gathered into a neat bun at the nape of her neck, and a crown graced the top of her head. She leaned forward and spoke in sharp, cold tones:

"Report, Sage." A young, handsome man with wavy blond hair appeared in front of her, kneeling as though in prayer.

"Mistress…These Sailor Senshi are very strong, very strong indeed. We have no hope of fighting them, so…they will fight each other. I used my shapeshifting abilities to take the form of Hino Rei, making my way to their arranged meeting place a few minutes earlier than the real girl. I encouraged mutiny against their Princess and left quickly before my tricks could be detected."

"The blue-haired one suspects something, Sage. She saw your eyes," the crowned woman chided.

"It is of no matter. Anyway, the real Rei entered moments after I left, and her friends instantly turned on her. Because of the turmoil in Usagi's heart, the ginzuishou reacted against Rei. But, unfortunately, instead of killing her, as I had hoped, she was merely transported into another dimension. So, I possessed her and delivered a warning to whoever her new companions are: Hino Rei is marked for death. Hopefully, they'll leave her once they have heard this, and I will be able to finish her off as planned."

"Very good, Sage. But one more thing: I assume you are unable to change the color of your eyes when you shift forms?" asked the woman imperiously. Sage glanced upwards, revealing glowing red eyes.

"Yes, Mistress."

 "You are dismissed."

~~~**~~~

Minako walked into the Crown Arcade the following morning to see Usagi, Ami Makoto, and a considerable absence of Rei.

            "Guys, where's Rei-chan?" asked Minako. Usagi and Ami avoided Minako's gaze, but Makoto met it angrily.

            "Rei who?" she spat.

            "Rei Hino, my best friend in the whole world…" said Minako.

            "You don't seem to realize who you're talking about. That 'best friend' of yours came in last night and…well, she did some unforgivable things," Makoto said.

            "Give me an example," said Minako, still confused.

            "Here's a quote: 'Crystal Tokyo shouldn't be ruled by an incompetent Princess and Usagi falls far beyond ordinary incompetence. I should be the new ruler of Crystal Tokyo, and we can kill that bitch Usagi! Who's with me?'" said Makoto, voice trembling with suppressed rage.

            "Rei-chan said wha—" Minako was interrupted by sobs from Usagi.

            "Th-that's not all she said *sniff*. She told me that…that Mamoru never really cared about me, that Rei and Mamo-chan were in love the whole time!" Usagi broke into fresh tears. "That boyfriend stealing, traitorous, evil—" Makoto put a comforting arm on Usagi's shoulder.

            "Seeing that none of us would help her, your little 'friend' tried to kill Usagi single-handedly. Rei shot one of those stupid little fireballs at her," growled Makoto.  

            "Wait a minute," said Minako. "Rei wouldn't do something like that!"

            "Mina, all three of us saw her. Rei was here last night," said Ami.

            "But—" protested Minako, falling silent when she looked at Usagi's face. There was no way to fake that sort of pain. But the things Rei had supposedly said were preposterous! Minako was very confused.

"So what did you do to her?" asked Minako.

"Well, we asked her to leave and not come back, but then a wave of energy from the ginzuishou hit her and she disappeared," said Ami shakily, "We may never see her again."

"No!" cried Minako, dashing out the door.

"Where are you going?" called Makoto.

"I'm going to see Pluto!"

~~~**~~~

            At the gates of time (I guess each Senshi got a dimensional key from Setsuna), Minako told Setsuna all she had heard.

            "Can you help me find where she's gone? This doesn't make sense to me," Minako pleaded.

            "Unless she took her dimensional key with her, I don't think I can locate her, but I can tell you what happened that night," said Setsuna. She brought her Garnet Sceptre around in a large circle and a huge mirror appeared.

            "This contains the memories of the planet Earth (like in FY!). Let me see if I can find something on that night," Setsuna said.

            A fuzzy image went into focus on the mirror's surface. It showed Setsuna adjusting the threads of time, when behind her, one went haywire and split, releasing a woman on a throne and a young man with blond hair. The young man turned into an exact duplicate of Rei. He went into the café and said all manner of horrible things, and then came out as the real Rei walked in and had to deal with the consequences.

            Minako stifled a cry as she looked at her best friend's face, unable to understand why Makoto had just punched her, or what Usagi was doing lying against the charred wall. Watching in horror, Minako saw Rei turn once again to her friends to apologize for whatever it was she had done, and…the screen went blank.

            "I believe that was the point when Rei was sent into another dimension," said Setsuna. "If the ginzuishou had killed her, her body would still have remained on Earth."

            "If Rei was sent into another dimension, I'm going to find her!" said Minako, running towards the dimensional portal.

            "No!" cried Setsuna. "Minako, think about the lives at stake here. We know from this that a dangerous enemy is after Rei. Right now, that enemy is in another dimension. We are safe, our princess is safe—"

            "Rei's not safe, is she? My best friend is in there," Minako gestured at the portal, "and she has given her life for us countless times! Now, everyone rejects her for something she didn't do, she is all alone and being stalked by some creepy dude with red eyes, and she needs my help. She needs everyone's help."

            "No-one will listen unless they come here and see it for themselves," said Setsuna.

            "Why?" Minako asked, puzzled.

            "Because human beings, whether princes or gods or sorcerers, tend to listen to their eyes and not their hearts. Bring minna to me and I will show them what they have done."

~~~**~~~

            There was a dead silence. Setsuna had shown all the Senshi exactly the same thing Minako had seen, and while it might be bad seeing your friends betray your best friend, it is far worse to see yourself betraying your best friend. Usagi burst into floods of tears and buried her head in Mamoru's shoulder (he had consistently—and truthfully—denied being in a relationship with Rei).

            "It's all my fault," she sobbed. "If I could control the ginzuishou better…If I had realized that Rei-chan would never betray me…"

            "No. It's my fault," said Ami. "I knew, or at least I suspected that something was wrong. I just didn't do anything about it." Hotaru was staring at her fellow Senshi in bewilderment.

            "Minna, why would you have any reason to believe this evil being?" she asked.

            "We saw 'her' come right up and do it, okay?" growled Makoto, angry at Hotaru and herself.

            "But you must have questioned her motives. Rei loves Usagi like a sister; you know there was never anything between Rei and Mamoru (note: this is based on the manga timeline). And furthermore—" Michiru laid a comforting hand on Hotaru's shoulder.

            "That's enough, Hotaru-chan." Hotaru whirled around, eyes blazing, shaking Michiru's hand off her shoulder.

            "Rei-chan was a true friend and now she's gone. Because of them and their jumping to conclusions. Because of you." She directed the last part at Ami, who buried her face in her hands to hide her tears.

            "I never had many friends. All of you and Chibiusa were…" Hotaru trailed off. "Oh, Kami-sama," she whispered. "Setsuna-san? What will happen to Chibiusa?"

            Setsuna brought her Garnet Sceptre around in a small circle. Her eyes widened, and the other Senshi watched in amazed horror as the normally unfazeable Senshi of Time fell to her knees, trembling.

            "In the future," Pluto said with a voice that was not her own, "an entity known as Thyme will attack Tokyo, killing thousands. When the Sailor Senshi appear on the scene, they are much too weak to defeat Thyme and die. Chibiusa is never born, and Crystal Tokyo is nonexistent. People are reduced to but shadows of what they once were, and soon there is nothing left. You must go and find Rei if this is to be prevented."

            "I don't believe you, Setsuna-san. How does finding Rei prevent Crystal Tokyo from being destroyed?" wondered Haruka.

            "Thyme and the other enemy who is currently stalking Rei, Sage, do not fight in ways that can be outright detected, at least not right away. Sage and Thyme fight by turning friends into enemies, breaking up lovers, and dividing teams. It is impossible for the Senshi to fight when they do not trust each other. Besides, at that point, you," she pointed to Makoto, "and you," this time, Hotaru, "are dead."

            "This sounds like guerrilla warfare to me," spat Haruka. "We need to track down Rei as soon as possible—I'm not losing Hotaru to anyone!"

            "But we don't know where she is!" wailed Usagi.

            "Here is what we are going to have to do," said Ami, tapping away at her computer, tears still staining her cheeks. "We will each take a partner and use our dimensional keys to pop quickly from one world to another. I have an experimental design that I can finish within a week: It tracks the energy signals of Sailor Senshi. All you have to do is go into a world and it will beep if it detects another Senshi. I will stay with Mamoru and work on it. Minna, go home and get some rest."

~~~**~~~

            The five Gundam pilots stared at Rei, who was shaking her head woozily.

            "What just happened there? Did someone hit me on the head or something?" she asked.

            "It seemed like you were possessed," said Wufei. "You went into a kind of trance and said something about 'this girl is marked for death, Sage is her master,' blah blah blah." Rei got very pale when she heard that, but the color slowly returned to her face.

            "Oh, it's probably one of those youmas I told you about. They say some pretty exaggerated things, when all they're really going to do is kidnap you and make it really easy to escape."

            "All right," Quatre said doubtfully.

            "And…Quatre-san?" Rei asked. "Could I get some different clothes?" She gestured to the frilly pink dress she was wearing. "This is really uncomfortable."

            "Gomen nasai, demo that was the only article of women's clothing in the house," said Quatre, "We used to have a girl living here, and she left rather abruptly so some of her things are still here. Although they seem to have disappeared." His eyes darted to Wufei, a miniscule gesture, but still rather telling.

"If you would like to buy clothing, however, I can send someone with you since you obviously have no clue how to use cred cards or any of that stuff.

"All right, who wants to accompany Rei-san?" Quatre's eyes scoped the room, ignoring Duo, who was jumping up and down waving his arms and saying 'Pick me! Pleeease?'.

"Anyone at all?" Quatre turned a grin into a questioning expression.

"Ooh! Me! C'mon, Quatre…" Rei had to stifle a laugh as Quatre sighed theatrically.

"Well then Duo, I guess you're stuck with her. I hope it won't present a problem." Duo's eyes lit up like Usagi presented with a mountain of candy. He dashed out the door and into the garage.

Selecting from a vast array of vehicles, Duo chose a motorcycle, making sure it would go very fast so that Rei might have to hold on a little tighter than usual. Then he waited in the driveway until Rei came out. As soon as she emerged from the door, Duo grinned and motioned towards the motorcycle. Rei instantly hopped on…in the front.

"Nande?" said Duo. "I thought I was driving."

"Well, you thought wrong," Rei said calmly. Duo got on reluctantly, shaking his head in disbelief. Rei gunned the motor and they were off. With Duo shouting directions from behind, she got on to the highway.

Rei picked up the speed. The motorcycle was going so fast that Duo thought it would explode. He put his arms around her soft curves and held on as if his life depended on it. In fact, it did.

_Jeez_, thought Duo, _she drives faster than I do!_

            Finally, the motorcycle screeched to a stop in the parking lot of the mall.

            "Okay," said Rei. "You're going to have to show me around, because I haven't been here before." Duo smiled.

            "Where do we go first?"

            "Um…I need certain items of lingerie. You don't have to come with me if you don't want to, though." Duo grinned.

            "No, it's fine. I'll accompany you anywhere." Duo showed Rei the way through the bobbing crowd inside.

            "Um, Duo?" Rei asked hesitantly.

            "Yes?"

            "Might I ask how you know where the lingerie section is?" Duo blushed crimson.

            "You know, it's not a bad place to meet girls…"

            "Yeah, girls who think you're a total pervert."

            "No, seriously."

            "I'm being serious."

            "I've been on many a date with a girl who I met by the push-up bra display."

            "You are a sick and twisted person, Duo Maxwell," said Rei, secretly quite amused. As they arrived at the entrance, she pushed Duo back.

            "Wait OUTSIDE."

            "Awww…" After a very short period of time, Rei walked out of the door with a large bag.

            "Hold this." She shoved the bag into Duo's arms. Duo opened it gingerly…

            "And don't look." Rei said, with her back to him. 

            "How did you—"

            "I'm psychic. And I know you."

            "What next?" sighed Duo.

            "Well, I need shoes…and pants…and skirts…and shirts…and sweaters…and a coat…and gloves…and a hat…and a scarf…and jewelry…and a purse…"

            Shopping with Duo was very strange. Duo liked the color black and didn't really seem to be checking out the _clothes_. Rei missed shopping with a girl, someone with a little sense of style, for Kami-sama's sake! But at least with a guy you had someone to carry your bags for you, especially one as eager as Duo. Some hours and around fifteen bags later, he was a little bit more subdued. Rei turned to Duo. 

"What else do I need?" Duo grinned so largely it threatened to split his face.

"Well, duh! The most important item of clothing for any girl, anywhere. I'm talking about a bathing suit." Rei rolled her eyes.

"Might I remind you that it's November? It may be warm out, but not that warm."

"Quatre's rich. Indoor pool and outdoor heated pool."

"What are you wasting time for let's go!" said Rei, dragging him and his numerous bags through the mall to the bathing suit area.

"Here, try this on," said Duo, selecting the skimpiest suits he could find, "and this, and this, and this, and this…" Rei smiled.

"Consider this a thank you for carrying the bags."

"What?"

"The fact that you're still alive. Some of these are smaller than the price tags!"

"Some?"

"All." Rei sighed. "I guess I'd better go get a dressing room."

"Yesss!"

"Don't think I'm going to be this nice all the time."

Rei tried on suit after suit, Duo watching intently every time. After a long parade, Rei came out wearing his personal favorite, a midnight blue bikini. _Oh man… _he thought, _I'm not going to be able to drive for days after this._

Duo caught a whiff of lilacs as Rei turned.

_For weeks, dammit, for weeks!_

"Is everything alright, Duo? You look kind of flushed."

"Nguh…"

"Pardon?"

Duo shook himself. _Concentrate on the eyes, man, the eyes._

"Fine. Everything's perfectly okay," he said, trying to stop his nose from bleeding.

"That was the last one," said Rei, "Which do you like?"

"Gee, I can't decide. Maybe if you tried them all on again…" Duo said hopefully.

"Duo!" shouted Rei, exasperated.

"Get the one you have on now, and the red one, and…the black one."

"Um, Duo?" asked Rei in a voice that had icicles crystallizing on it.

"Mmhmm?"

"Please speak to my face."

"Oh…gomen." Duo turned red.

Loaded with numerous bags, Duo and Rei were walking out of the mall when a loud scream interrupted them. Duo's watch began to beep loudly. He turned very pale.

"It's OZ! They're attacking the mall!"

Summer camp: the work of the devil. Especially when you're a counselor and everyone hates you, especially the little kindergarteners. And really you don't get paid that much. And—worst of all—there is no time for fanfiction! This evil torture begins on Monday and I fear I may not return. That's why I made this chapter a little longer.

Thank you, everyone!


	4. Life on the line

Disclaimer: Yeah, I really don't own this. Okay, I'm writing this fast because I want to get it done before the evil summer camp comes to take me away. I posted the beginning chapters so quickly because I had some of it pre-written, but with this fourth chapter I am vanishing into the realm of the unforeseen…crap.  
  


"It's OZ! They're attacking the mall!" cried Duo, frantically searching for weapons. He hadn't suspected OZ to attack anywhere on the Earth…wasn't OZ's goal to destroy the colonies and establish supremacy for Earth? Ah, well, plenty of time to think later, he mused as he pulled out a pistol—the only gun he had on him. Beside him, he saw a burst of flame as Rei transformed into Sailor…what was it again? Pluto? 

"Mars, you baka," she growled. Duo turned white. 

"How did you-" he was abruptly cut off by an explosion. 

"Come on, no time for that," Rei snapped. "There are people here! This could turn into a massacre!" 

"Rei, I only have a pistol and last time you tried to fight you nearly passed out." 

"Well, I'm a lot better now. Senshi healing power. If you have small wounds, they'll heal within hours." 

"I-" Duo fell silent. 

"Come on!" Rei urged, running towards the source of the explosions. Duo quickly caught up with her, crouching behind the wreckage in order to shoot from a safe location. He began aiming shots at the source of the explosions: two people who looked completely normal-that is, if you ignored the flames burning around their entire bodies. One looked like a young girl, about thirteen, with brown hair and embers creating an aura of fire surrounding her. The other was an older man who was extending some sort of shield around himself. The fire was burning on this energy shield and not on the man himself. 

"Mars Snake Fire," Rei shouted, sending a blast of flame from her Sailor Crystal that engulfed the two figures. It had no effect on the girl, although the man had to strain to keep up the shield. Rei pulled out her bow and did a Flame Sniper, this time aiming solely at the man with the shield. The man fell to his knees with the effort of maintaining the shield, and the girl looked shaken as a bullet from Duo clipped her skull. Duo aimed once more from behind and this time got the girl in the calf, causing her to sink to her knees alongside the man. She still managed to send a blast of fire at Rei, who blocked it with a Burning Mandala, although the fire senshi could feel the burning heat singeing her face and hair. 

The man created some sort of energy beam out of the same substance the shield was made from and hurled it at Rei, who was caught off guard and hurled through a store window in a burst of glass and blood. Without thinking, Duo got to his feet and aimed his gun at the man, but his bullets hit the shield and bounced off, catching the braided pilot in the thigh. Blood spurted from the wound, and Duo realized he could no longer stand. He toppled over, hoping to Kami that Rei was okay. His vision was dimming, and he knew from basic anatomy that his bullet must have hit an artery. Duo would die of blood loss within minutes.  
Bleeding from dozens of gashes, Rei jumped out from the store window, swaying slightly. She shot another Flame Sniper at the man's shield, and this time it broke through. The man lay on the ground, unmoving, skin blackened and smouldering, as the girl knelt, weeping with pain. Rei ran up to Duo, who was lying in a pool of blood, grinning half-heartedly at what he knew was about to be a fatal wound. Rei ripped off a strip of her skirt and quickly tied it around Duo's upper thigh, creating a hastily made tourniquet. She told the barely conscious Duo to lift his leg and lean on her. Half walking, half carrying Duo out to the parking lot sapped what little strength remained in Rei's body. She collapsed on the manicured grass outside the mall, breathing heavily and despairing about what to do next.  
"1-814-325-6720," gasped Duo, holding out his cell phone.  
"What?" asked Rei frantically, grabbing the phone to dial in the numbers.  
"18.143.25.672.0." his voice died away as the phone began to ring. Rei heard the now-familiar voice of Quatre answer the phone.  
"Moshi-moshi."  
"Quatre-san! There's been an attack at the shopping mall and Duo's injured," she cried. "Quatre, I'm afraid he's."  
"You're at the mall? I'll be on my way," responded Quatre quickly, and hung up.  
The few minutes it took for Quatre, Trowa, Heero and Wufei to arrive seemed like an eternity to Rei. Staring at the prostrate body of a man she had known for less than a day.yet somehow it seemed that she knew him from somewhere else…somewhere she couldn't quite place. He was still breathing, if raggedly, and his closed eyes made him look angelic, somehow. For the first time, Rei was struck by how handsome Duo really was. And brave: following her into battle against monsters with superhuman abilities far beyond his own. And now...he was dying, if not dead already. 

Death had never scared Rei. She knew that if she were to die, she would be reincarnated with her Princess. But Duo had no reassurance of that, and he was still willing to risk his life for people he'd never met.  
_Oh, Kami-sama, Rei thought in despair. __I don't want to be responsible for any more deaths, any more pain. _It's my fault: I was the one who persuaded him to fight. I never thought about consequences, I just jumped into action and didn't think about the lives I put in danger._ __Ami-chan was always there to balance the risks and make the plans. But I'm not part of a team now. I'm on my own and I have to be careful. Rei hadn't realized how accustomed she'd grown to being with the other Senshi. She felt their absence like a gaping hole blown through her heart. Why had they sent her here? Why did they seem so angry at her? There were so many questions Rei needed to know the answers to. Head spinning in grief and fatigue, Rei barely noticed when the boys arrived and didn't care when a pair of strong, muscular arms lifted her gently off her feet and helped her into a car. _

Rei sat, reeling in pain that was both emotional and physical, and felt someone help her into a white, clean building. She lay down on a bed—or was it a table? Rei didn't care—and felt her broken body shake with sobs as she wept for her friends, for Duo, for herself…Rei's vision blurred and then everything went dark as she spiraled into unconsciousness.  
  
~~~**~~~  
  
It had been two long weeks since she had landed in the lake outside of Quatre's mansion, and Rei had grown to know the five young men like brothers-albeit brothers from a highly nuclear family. Duo, thanks to some futuristic technology Rei wasn't sure about and quick reactions from Rei, was still alive and well, although he would have to take physical therapy classes for at least another month. Quatre was still just as kind and generous as he had been from their first meeting, and Trowa was finally opening up and proving to be a nice person underneath the cold façade. Wufei was still rather sexist and cold, but Rei could tell he was beginning to warm to her. 

The only person who remained distant from Rei was Heero. It seemed as if he was taking great pains to avoid her at all costs. Whenever she entered a room, he would leave it. If she tried to talk to him (which wasn't often; she felt strangely nervous around Heero), he would end the conversation quickly and curtly. It was beginning to seem like Heero secretly despised her. But other times…it wasn't quite the same way. She had caught Heero staring at her dreamily more times than coincidences allowed, and sometimes she had wandered off into a remote wing of the mansion, just to feel the gaze of his Prussian blue eyes following her. Other times it seemed that just as she turned, there would be a small flash of light coming from his laptop. 

Rei had mixed feelings about Heero herself; she tingled all over when she heard his voice, and when she saw him she would get an odd thrill down her spine. But he was such an enigma! A puzzle Rei was all too willing to work out. 

After staying in the hospital for about a week, Rei had returned to the Winner mansion. She had been too tired until that day to unpack the bags of clothing she had bought with Duo. But, opening the doors of her antique wardrobe, she saw to her amazement that it was completely full of frilly pink dresses—similar to the one Rei herself had been wearing when she landed at Quatre's house. She mused on this for a while, but headed down to the dining room for dinner when it was announced over the room intercom. That night, they were having sushi and udon-Quatre was being polite and serving Japanese food so that Rei found it easier to adjust to staying in a strange house. It was excellent, like all the food served at Quatre's.

 Rei exchanged pleasant chit-chat about the upcoming holidays, and then got into a deep discussion with Trowa about characters from _Seven, a book they had both read. Meanwhile, on the other end, Duo had made some rather blatant comments on Wufei's sexual orientation *cough cough* (A/N: No, the pilots are all straight in this. I'm not very good at writing yaoi / shounen-ai / shoujo-ai) and was busy trying to stop Wufei from killing him, aided by Quatre. Thinking that maybe Quatre knew what to do with the dresses that were currently occupying her wardrobe, Rei spoke up about it. _

"Quatre-kun?" she asked, trying to distract him from breaking up the fight between Wufei and Duo. 

"Uh, yes, Rei-chan? Wufei, don't, that's a family heirloom!" 

"I was looking through my wardrobe and I found it full of frilly pink dresses." Wufei stopped dead. He was staring at Rei with realization dawning in his eyes. 

"So, I was wondering if they belonged to one of your sisters or something, and if so, if I could throw them away?"

"No!" cried Wufei, springing from his seat and rushing to Rei's side, something like pleading in his eyes. 

"I mean, no," he repeated in a more normal tone. "Here, I'll help you get rid of them."

 Rei and Wufei left the dining room and headed up to Rei's room. 

"Look, Wufei," Rei finally said, "I just wanted to say, about the day I got here? You know, when we got into that huge screaming fight and stuff? Well, g—gomen nasai. I thought at first it was pent-up stress, but I just had this urge to teach you a lesson. I guess it's because you reminded me…of me." 

"Huh?" 

"I'll begin at the beginning. When I was thirteen years old, I met a man named Kaidou Ace (manga timeline here folks!). I fell in love with him, but he didn't return my feelings and he broke my heart. Blinded with pain, I decided that I didn't need love, or friends, or anybody else. I was a loner who didn't trust, and I covered my broken heart with a mask of pride. I said that I hated men; that they were stupid and weak and idiotic, because I never wanted to fall in love or feel that pain again. 

"Well, time passed and I met my friends, and they taught me how to trust again. They showed me that making yourself vulnerable to pain is worth what you get in the process: friendship and love. And when I came here, and I saw you, I knew who you were. You were me. I could see it in your face. After all, hadn't I worn that very expression, not too long ago? I needed to teach you a lesson, and so I tried to get you to see that women weren't weak after all. 

"But you knew that all along, didn't you, Wufei? In fact, the problem wasn't that women were weak, but that we were too strong. Who were these creatures who held such power over your heart? The power to break it and the power to rebuild it. Someone broke your heart, didn't she, Wufei. Not too long ago." Rei trailed off, staring at Wufei. He averted his eyes. 

"Her name was Relena Peacecraft," Wufei admitted. "She used to live here, and…I…loved her. (Gasps are heard from the Relena haters!) 

"She never looked my way, though. She was infatuated with Heero, and I never had a chance. You seem to understand all about me, Doctor Hino," he spat, "but I doubt you really understand what kind of torture it was while she was in this house. She moved out eventually, and the talk is that she's getting promoted in a while, but I hope that I never have to see her again. You can burn these dresses for all I care." 

"No. Just help me put them in another room." The work was silent and easily done, and soon they were finished.  
  
Short chapter, but moving, ne? I hope…REVIEWS PLEASE! I NEED REVIEWS! Don't worry, all you people who think that I am starving you of romance (a.k.a. Heero). The next chapter will be PLENTY romantic…hee hee hee…I have much planned. Writer's block has taken me, and that's why this chap is so short...help meeee…and, yes, Relena and the Senshi will soon play a large role in this.  
'til next time,  
Sailor Star Kindler


	5. Never been Kissed

AAAH! WHAT IS GOING ON HERE? THIS PART WAS MEANT TO BE IN THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER! Oh, whatever. Well, here in my head, things are not all well: I have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome—too much typing—or I just haven't gotten enough potassium. Either way, it makes for slow and VERY PAINFUL writing. Whoever said 'you must suffer to write' really knew his stuff. OW! This chapter and the previous one were typed using my left hand alone—that's why they're both so short. I'd better take an invisible Tylenol. Oh, the PAIN! Um, for all of you inflicted with a similar ailment, there's some good advice on . Now on with the story. Joy through pain is still joy.

Heero was going insane. He must be crazy, he convinced himself, because no normal human being felt like this. It was like delirium, induced by that girl. Rei. He longed to say her name over and over, stroking her long, dark hair—see? There he went again. This…unnatural desire had to stop! Whenever she was near him, he felt that happiness swell up in him, and when he held her in his arms, it was like she belonged there. He would never be able to fight like this: a soldier should have no weaknesses and his was the greatest weakness of all—love. He shuddered at the thought. No, it must be something else. There had to be some other explanation for this sudden surge of feeling.

Heero turned back to his laptop and tried to continue with what he was doing, finding information on the previous attacks. But somehow, he couldn't concentrate. He decided to turn on some music to help him relax. Flipping through the laptop's music selection, he wasn't surprised by the fact that there wasn't anything to listen to: Heero hadn't ever felt the need to listen to music before. Wait a minute—there was something: _Duo's Mix._ There was only one song on it, however.

_Duo's been on MY LAPTOP?_ fumed Heero. But nevertheless he clicked on the song, plugged in some headphones, and began to listen.

~~~**~~~

Way above with Aphrodite

Looking down like you're God Almighty

Nobody does what you can do

I don't care 'cause I can see you…too…

I don't want to sing a hymn

Don't give a damn if it's a sin

I can't always be your right-hand man,

Someday I want command

Because you're always pushing down on me

You say you're my best friend

Because sometimes I think you're my enemy

And I just wish that I could tell you how it is

You can't just be okay you've got to win it all

If it means you fly it's okay if I fall

Because that's the way it is

I'm standing in the shadows

While you're basking in the sun

You want me to play your game

Then it means you've already won

Sometimes I want to hate myself

It all becomes too much to bear

Even though you're always above me

At least it means you're always there

But you're always pushing down on me

You say you're my best friend

But sometimes I think you're my enemy

And I just wish that I could show you how I feel

You can't just be okay you've got to win it all

If it means you fly it's okay if I fall

Because that's how I know it's your ideal

When I'm walking all alone

I dream that I'm the best

That I'm the one above you

And higher than all the rest

But dreams are dreams and nothing more

What would I want to wish that for

When I'm on earth and you're high above me

That's how I know you'll always love me

Because you're always pushing down on me

You say you're my best friend

Because sometimes I think you're my enemy

And I just wish that I could give you everything

You can't just be okay you've got to win it all

If it means you fly it's okay if I fall

But even the fallen, even we have wings.

~~~**~~~

(A/N: It looks a little kooky written out like this—you've really got to hear the tune to know how it goes, but I thought it was a pretty song and I know that 'Snow Ghost' will like it! Snif…its sad but yet uplifting…interesting. And now, back to your regularly scheduled fanfic.)

Heero was absentmindedly flipping through a different document while listening to the song: a collage of pictures of Rei. Rei standing, Rei looking over her shoulder at him, Rei in the pool, Rei laughing at Duo's jokes…(A/N: Do you remember when Rei was thinking about the strange flashes of light coming from Heero's laptop? Well now you do.) God, she was gorgeous. Heero dozed off for a while, thinking of nothing but beautiful amethyst eyes.

"Heero? Hey, Heero, where were you? You missed dinner and it's like one-thirty at night!" Heero jolted awake to see Duo staring at his prized collage in amazement.

"You're listening to music…and whoa! Where did all these pictures come from? You're not telling me that you have the hots for our new guest…" he teased. Heero slammed the laptop shut and stalked out of the room without a word.

~~~**~~~

Rei tossed and turned, dreams flitting feverishly through her mind. It was late at night and she still couldn't sleep. Whenever she was about to doze off, she would see a face laughing at her as she saw the bodies of her friends amid the shattered ruins of Crystal Tokyo. The face looked like…Jadeite? He had the same blonde hair, but his face was twisted and hard, and his eyes glowed red with bloodlust. Rei bolted upright, breaking into a cold sweat as she heard the maniacal laughter echo in the caverns of her mind. She had to think of something else.

_Maybe some tea would get me calmed down,_ Rei thought, and headed towards the stairs down to the kitchen. Rushing down the stairs, she slammed into someone else in the pitch dark hallway and tumbled to the foot of the stairs in a tangled heap. As they landed in a patch of moonlight, Rei was startled to see that it was Heero. A delicious tingle ran up her spine as she realized the compromising position she was in: She was lying on top of him, their faces barely an inch apart.

"G—gomen," she managed to stammer, all too aware of the blush staining her porcelain cheeks.

"Don't be sorry," he whispered, cupping her face in his hands and slowly bringing his mouth to hers. He pulled her tighter against him and was gratified when she made no move to resist. Rather, she wrapped her arms around him and fell wholeheartedly into the kiss. Heero tasted her sweet mouth and fragile cherry lips, pushing his tongue against her teeth with a throaty murmur. He was finally fulfilling the hidden desires of his heart, doing what he had longed to do for what seemed like forever. 

When he finally withdrew from their embrace, Rei flung herself forward and kissed him again. It was like no experience he had ever had before, a firework of experience that left him burning for more. They remained locked in a passionate embrace for a long time, oblivious to everything else.

They didn't even notice when a certain someone came across the scene and gasped, then sadly but stealthily crept away and into bed…

REVIEW PLEASE.

            Hiyas, everyone, a bit busy but hope you like it! 


	6. Don't worry, Ami chan!

Gomen minna! I was um…delayed…MY POWER WENT OUT, I GOT CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME AND WRITER'S BLOCK, MY COMPUTER HAS VIRUSES, MY HOUSE IS FILLED WITH DISTANT RELATIONS, SCHOOL JUST STARTED AND MY TEACHERS ARE EVIL…um, well, you get the idea. Gomen for the rant ^_^; BUT I AM BACK! Man, I'm hyper.

            Okay. As I said, my teachers are evil and this year I'm learning two different new languages at the same time (Latin and French), so go easy on me if the next chap isn't up for a while. Hoo boy. Oh well, on with the fic!

            Heero's head was spinning. What had he done last night? His memories were vague, filled with strange, feverish images that he couldn't recognize. He recalled something about heading up to bed and then…oh yes. Rei had rushed down the flight of stairs and slammed into him, landing on top of him. And then he kissed her.

            Oh Kami-sama, he thought frantically. Heero had no idea why he did that. He had wanted to, of course, but no way in hell would he ever have gone through with it. He had felt himself moving toward her and his memory went blank. When he 'awoke', he was kissing Rei. It was strange. Almost like he was…possessed. But no, why would that Sage being want him to kiss Rei? It made no sense. Heero would just ignore her and the feelings he had for her and the problem would go away.

            Easier said than done.

~~~**~~~

            Meanwhile, in a galaxy far, far away…

            "Ami-chan, can we stop? We've been going through dimensions for more than a day now! I need food, rest, and I need to go to the bathroom!" whined Usagi.

            "Fine," Ami said. "You can take a thirty minute break at this next universe to eat and go to the restroom. If you're tired, I don't give a damn. I'm tired too but I'm not stopping until we find Rei-chan." Usagi stopped and stared at her blue-haired friend. Ami was usually so quiet and sweet, but ever since Rei went missing Ami had turned into some sort of Drill Sergeant from Hell. And since when did Ami swear? Usagi was going to be so glad when all this was over.

            A loud beep came from the device Ami was holding.

            "I think we have her this time. My sensor indicates someone with psychic abilities and control of fire in the area. Usagi, call the others," she said. Usagi flipped on her communicator but stopped and stared at Ami.

            "Ami-chan, are you sure that it's her? I mean, we had that guy Hotihori who looked just like Rei…except he was a man. We had that girl whose name was Rei, but she had freaky blue hair—ah, not that blue hair is a bad thing! Then we had a bunch of people with power over fire. I don't know—"

            "Usagi?"

            "Yes, Ami-chan?"

            "_Call them. Now." Usagi spoke into her communicator._

            "Guys, we have someone here who has the same powers as Rei. We're going to check it out." Usagi peered over Ami's shoulder. The tracking device showed a red dot and two blue dots, the red representing Rei and the blue representing Usagi and Ami.

            "Okay. It appears that she is situated one hundred yards to the southeast. Usagi, follow me. Remember, you attacked her so she may not be glad to see you. I'll project a shield if she tries to hurt us but we should be careful," Ami explained. 

They landed in the new universe with a small popping sound. They were standing in a wide, open field with a cluster of trees in front of them. The sun was shining brightly in the clear blue sky and warm breezes rustled the leaves on the trees. It seemed to be September or October, judging by the way the leaves were falling, and the voices of children playing were carried on the wind.

"She's over there," Ami said, pointing at the closest group of trees. The two Senshi worked their way behind a tree and cautiously looked around it. A red haired woman was standing on the other side of the tree with her eyes closed.

"'Scuse me, but are you Rei-chan?" asked Usagi. The woman opened her eyes and looked at Usagi.

"I'm Doctor Jean Grey."

"Oh, okay then. 'Bye!"

Ami and Usagi popped out…and popped back in.

"What?!" Ami said. "It's not supposed to do this! Is it malfunctioning?" Ami took out a control panel and began trying to fix the machine. 

Usagi glanced around the new universe. It appeared to be winter, although no snow was on the ground. They were standing in a barren garden close to a forest. In the distance Usagi saw a gigantic mansion, so large that she gasped and tugged at Ami's sleeve. Ami wasn't paying attention; she was busy fiddling with the dimension device. Usagi pulled on Ami's sleeve again. Ami was startled and whirled around, dropping the device in a shower of sparks and spare parts.

"Oh, Kami-sama. We're stuck."

"No, it's okay," said Usagi. "I'll just call Minako and have her pick us up! She'll be glad to." She flipped open her communicator and spoke into it.

"Hey, Minako, come here. We need your help."

"Usagi, don't—" 

"It'll all be okay, Ami-chan," interrupted Usagi.

Soon Minako popped in.

"So, guys, what's the problem?" she asked.

"Our dimensional thingy broke," said Usagi. "Could you give us a lift out of here?"

"No, Usagi! You can't—"

"Don't be such a worry wart, Ami," Usagi said. Minako punched in some numbers on her machine and…it exploded.

"I tried to tell you, Usagi. But no. _'It'll all be okay, Ami-chan.' 'Don't worry so much, Ami-chan.'_ Just because the machine can't carry more than two people and it'll _explode if it does_, that's no reason to _worry_, Ami-chan. Now we're stranded in some strange universe with no money or food, but worrying never helps, Ami-chan. Usagi, I am going to strangle you!" said Ami.

"It's not that bad," said Minako. "We still have our communicators, right, Usagi?"

"Um, actually, when that machine exploded I kinda…dropped mine." They stared at the sad, twisted heap of metal.

"Okay, well, Ami-chan still has hers, right?"

"I gave mine to _Usagi to keep, because she said she would take good care of it," said Ami through gritted teeth. "And then she forgot it at home. But she said, _'Don't worry, Ami-chan, I still have my communicator! We don't need two anyway_!'"_

"Well, mine seems to have been damaged in the explosion," said Minako, trying to turn on her communicator. "See? It's all broken."

"It's okay, guys! We can go to that house over there to stay!" said Usagi, secretly happy to have an excuse to go to the cool house.

 The three of them walked up to the mansion, in awe at its size and beauty.

"I want a house like that someday," said Minako dreamily.

"Hey, look, a limousine! It's pulling into the driveway!" squealed Usagi.

"I wonder if it's someone famous, like a movie star or a model?" said Minako. Ami sulked in silence.

The limousine pulled up to the door at the same time as the three Senshi reached it.  A blonde girl wearing all pink stepped out, walked past Ami, Minako and Usagi, and rung the doorbell.

"Oh, I can't wait to see Hee-chan again," she said.

(A/N: OH MY GOD! IT'S RELENA! *ominous music*)

Okay, that's it for now but I'll put up lots more next time! Believe me when I say that the next chapter will be at least ten pages! 

Now back to my Latin and French: Amo amas amat amamos amatis amant amabo amabis amabit amabimus amabitis amabunt amabam amabas amabat amabamus amabatis amabant…

Ja!


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